Lakers failing experiment - trades might be coming... with Toronto??

Lakers experiment seems not to work. This experiment might go on though until the trade deadline. Just for consideration:

Lakers lost yet another game. This time against the Orlando Magic - Dwight's old team. So the LA experiment seems to be failing. No progress is visible. They can play offense in stretches, but they struggle often. On D you sometimes see Dwight doing his thing, but otherwise it's just terrible (How do you allow a Magic team to drop 40 points on you in the 4th quarter on your home court?). They have fired Mike Brown after just 5 games. D'Antoni hasn't been doing any better. They had the possibility to hire Phil Jackson, but...

Funny thing is... now, even if they wanted to get Phil Jackson back at whatever cost, they wouldn't be able to... not after how they took D'Antoni OVER HIM (should read-up, if you missed that story...). Besides, any attempt to hire a new coach would make the front office look foolish. So, the only remaining logical thing to do is... major trades! I might be wrong, but I sense that this time no one is safe, not even Kobe.

The idea to blow it all up and REBUILD, since this experiment doesn't seem to work and especially since Howard is not guaranteed to stay, must be especially enticing. Lakers have enough assets to package their stars (old stars) with their bad assets and get plenty of YOUNG "elite" talent in return. In my eyes it would be foolish (at this point) not do something like that. The experiment might go on though until the trade deadline.

Let's be honest. Kobe hasn't much more in the tank. He can play one more, maybe 2 seasons at "mamba" level (major injuries possible though at his age), then he'll surely turn into a mere mortal SG before he retires for good. Pau is in a similar situation if not worse... Artest (Metta World Peace) is already beyond his time and so is Nash. If they try it for more than this year, their assets TODAY will be hard to trade TOMORROW. They will get stuck and start gradually declining, then they will start rebuilding. In this way they would lose a decade before they, if lucky, become relevant again.

If there is franchise that is known to be bold enough to pull the trigger of that magnitude, it's the Lakers. They would get basically anyone they wanted in return with the exception being LeBron.

They could of course convince Howard to sign with the Lakers by showing him their commitment to build around him and leave the Kobe era behind them. They could also consider Dwight as impossible to keep, so they just might keep Kobe.

Point is, they might trade everyone from their roster and it's interesting to think about how the Raptors could be involved in this. But I really don't see any assets on the Raptors the Lakers might be interested in, if the Lakers go ALL IN. But if they elect to do only smaller trades, like trade Gasol or trade Artest or anything else, then the Raptors could be a potential trading partner.

D'antoni is a great system coach, the system is strong if all the pieces are right, but if a piece doesnt fit all that well (Melo, Gasol) D'antoni isnt flexible enough to bend it and make the offense and all the players work to their strength. I still think Gasol, Nash have elite bball IQ to make it work, but it will take time and a lot of patience

I think this will turn into another Rudy Gay scenario (from a Raptor fan's POV). We can talk/discuss/analyze/rationalize a potential Gasol trade until it makes sense from every angle for both teams, but chances are nothing materializes.

I found it very strange that OP thought anyone on this forum could have missed the D'Antoni over Jackson story. It's a bit insulting. I mean, we're all big time basketball fans here and even the casual fan couldn't have missed a story like that.

I love the Lakers as a trading partner. You keep hearing about how Pau prefers to post-up and that's not what D'Antoni wants to use him for. This is insane, one of the best finesse type big men in the league who wants to post up and the coach doesn't want it? We'll take it! Unfortunately for us we really don't much to offer. Maybe if Bargs had been a slightly more consistent player, I could see us as potential trading partners with them but as it stands we don't really have what they need. Also, for the Lakers it will come down to how they perform when Nash gets back. Before then, they can try different things but as long as they stay in the .500 they probably won't do anything.

Been said above but I'll say it again. Wait until Nash comes back. If the Lakers aren't rolling about 20 games after his return than we can begin to call it a failure. But my gut says they'll be talked about as championship contenders by the time all star weekend comes along (barring any injuries to the main guys). You cannot overstate the importance and effect of Nash running D'antoni's offence.

There is not a single player on that Lakers team that I would want over one of our young guys. Hell no. We've put too much time an effort building a foundation here to just give its benefits to another team....for what? The ghosts of players past? Forget it. Keep walking.

"So, the only remaining logical thing to do is... major trades! I might be wrong, but I sense that this time no one is safe, not even Kobe."

This gave me a bit of a chuckle (no disrespect intended) because it seems like panicing into trading your franchise player would be the most ilogical thing to do. The Lakers have two franchise players one of whom is the most dominant big in the league, a two time MVP that can still produce at a high level, Gasol and MWP whom are both All Stars (not sure about Metta actually), so they have more than enough talent to win with. Look at what New York had to give up to get Melo, or New Jersey to get D. Will and the lengths Houston was willing to go to get Bosh, Gasol, Howard.

You don't just panic into trading assets like that just because of a slow start, imo. All the Lakers have to do is remain in the playoff hunt. Once they develop a bit of chemistry and start playing as a team they will be destroy the opposition. They basically have until the playoffs to acheive some chemistry.

The Heat's big 3 started 9-8,,,, the Lakers are 8-9. Good organizations don't panic so early because fans are .

Note: I don't consider the Brown firing to have been panic. There was likely more going on than the public is aware of, but after having him for last year, then the beginning of this year, it seems they got tired of his insistence on trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.

It shouldn't take them too long to fix this problem. If it does, I'd simply blame it on bad management. The problem I see is that D'Antoni inherited a team that was not built to suit his coaching style. To make things worse Steve Nash(his floor General back in Phoenix) is not available. It's going to take a small deal to fix this. A simple Pau for Amare who exelled in the Phoenix system under D'Antoni, could work wonders IMO.

It shouldn't take them too long to fix this problem. If it does, I'd simply blame it on bad management. The problem I see is that D'Antoni inherited a team that was not built to suit his coaching style. To make things worse Steve Nash(his floor General back in Phoenix) is not available. It's going to take a small deal to fix this. A simple Pau for Amare who exelled in the Phoenix system under D'Antoni, could work wonders IMO.

Lakers would have to be tweeking on bathsalts to do that trade...Amare's knees & his contract insurance are poison!

Lakers would have to be tweeking on bathsalts to do that trade...Amare's knees & his contract insurance are poison!

No to mention that they'd probably use Howard in the exact same role as they used Amarč. While Howard won't pop as well, he'll be even more dominant as the roll man.

As for what we'd offer, my ideal version would be to send Amir and Kleiza instead of Jose, so that it doesn't hurt us financially at all, going forward. But then again, that's probably precisely why they'd want Jose anyhow.

In that case, I'd include Amir (or Kleiza) and take back one of their backup PGs. Yes, that backup will suck balls compared to Jose, but that also means we'll never have to see a two PG lineup out there.

The idea to blow it all up and REBUILD, since this experiment doesn't seem to work and especially since Howard is not guaranteed to stay, must be especially enticing.

Are you out of your mind? With Kobe wanting to win another title before he ends his career and the fan base in LA, that will never ever happen. Too much money there with the TV deals and Players and merchandising to blow it all up to start over. Plus they will never get rid of Pau until they know for sure that Howard will sign with them long time. Don't know if Howard will be able to deal with all the pressure of being the face of the franchise once Kobe retires. Just my 2cents